Activision Wants to Improve Image

Activision's chief operating officer Thomas Tippl says that his company would like to improve its relationship with gamers.

Amongst many hardcore gamers, Activision has a bit of an image problem, and this is something that COO Thomas Tippl is keen to remedy. Tippl blames much of the bad feeling on Activision's standing as the largest publisher around, saying that it's something that anyone in that position has to come to terms with.

"Obviously, we stay connected to what's going on in the communities, so we're not ignorant that there's a very vocal minority out there that has some very strong feelings," he said. "Whenever you become number one in any industry, you automatically get a target painted on your back. You've got to be able to live with that."

Tippl did say however that Activision could communicate better with the gamer community, but that for some people it would never be enough: "There are many things we can probably do better in the way we communicate with the communities so that we don't run the risk that certain things get pulled out of context and blown out of proportion."

"Now, can we do a better job from a PR and community management perspective? I think we can. We are focused on doing that, but you will always have a vocal minority that no matter what you do they're not going to be happy."